Newspaper Articles

Fairmont will observe K-Day today. Sen. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, facing a major test in his quest for the Democratic presidentia[l] nomination in the May 10 preferential primary in West Virginia, will make a personal visit here at noon today in the interests of his campaign.

Kennedy faces his fellow senator, Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota, in the non-binding primary and will return to West Virginia amid growing reports of a "Stop-Kennedy coalition" which his opponent has disavowed.

The Massachusetts senator, who has become one of the most-publicized men in America since he began to run for President of the United States, will be accompanied here by his wife, Jacqueline, an entourage of aides and representatives of the press and radio who are closely following the West Virginia primary campaign.

Kennedy has emphasized that he and Humphrey are the only candidates who chose to enter the West Virginia primary. Both have repeatedly said they want the election to be decided on what the candidates have done and what they stand for, leaving the religious issue out of it. But out-of-state observers have made much of the fact that Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, will be facing a test in West Virginia, which is about 95 per cent Protestant.

Leaving Clarksburg at 11 a.m. after taking part in a press conference, a "coffee" and a glass plant tour, Kennedy will be met at the Harrison-Marion County line on U.S. 19 by an escort from this city. State Police and county officers will head the procession to the city limits, where Fairmont police cars will join the caravan.

Among those expected to greet the senator and Mrs. Kennedy are members of the Kennedy-for-President organization in Marion County. Disclosed last night for the first time were the principal figures in the local group.

Co-chairmen for Kennedy will be Mrs. Edna Bock, Attorneys Benjamin Hayes Webb and D. J. Romine and Joseph P. Seccuro. On the steering committee will be Attorney John W. Plattenburg, Jack R. Delligatti, Joan E. Demus, Oce W. Smith Jr., Mrs. Jean Carlot, Mrs. Helen Riggs, Frank A. Pulice Jr., Mrs. C. Brooks Deveny, Frank Gearde, Mrs. Jackie Yeager, Mrs. Fanny Arnett, Mrs. Lena Fridley and Miss Frances Samargo.

The motorcade will come in Fairmont Avenue to Adams Street and halt at the Virginia Theater, where Kennedy headquarters will be formally opened by the candidate. He will speak from the top of a station wagon for some 10 minutes and then he and his wife will shake hands in the crowd for the remainder of an hour. Adams Street between Jefferson and Madison Streets will be closed to traffic for that time.

Sam Huff of Rock Lake, all-pro middle linebacker of the New York Giants in the National Football League, will introduce the senator. It had been originally planned for Kennedy to speak at the courthouse, but the remodeling in progress there and the establishment of a on-man picket line last week resulted in a last-minute switch in arrangements.

After lunch at the Palace Restaurant, the Kennedy party will be conducted on a tour of Owens-Illinois, entering on the Morgantown Avenue side. They will leave on the Speedway side and proceed to Morgantown. Monongalia County supporters of the candidate will pick up the caravan at the county line.

In Morgantown, Kennedy is scheduled to visit Sterling Faucet Co. as the afternoon shifts change, then go to Scott's Run for a visit to Osage and the Shack, a miners' recreation center. He will return to the Hotel Morgan, where between 8 and 10 p.m. he and Mrs. Kennedy will be honor guests at a reception. Co-chairmen in Morgantown are George Fumich Jr. and Herman V. Walker.

An airplane trip to Wheeling is scheduled for late tonight. He will speak at Bethany College and attend a reception at West Liberty State College in addition to making appearances in Wheeling. Tuesday night he will fly to Beckley.

On Wednesday the Democratic presidential aspirant will visit Beckley, Mt. Hope, Oak Hill, Fayetteville, Gauley Bridge, Montgomery, Cedar Grove, Cabin Creek, Charleston and Huntington before returning to Washington. He will be back for another three-day tour of West Virginia beginning next Monday.

Humphrey, who is due to make an address here a week from tonight at a Marion County Democratic Executive Committee fund-raising dinner, is remaining in Washington this week because of important legislation before the Senate. His wife, Muriel, will make a three-day swing starting today in behalf of her husband and will be here Wednesday afternoon.

The Republicans, overshadowed in the primary campaign by the intensive activity among the Democrats, will hold a meeting here Saturday night with a number of state and local candidates scheduled to be present. The '54 Club is sponsoring the event at the Eagles Club.

Heading the list of candidates will be former U.S. Sen. Chapman Revercomb, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor. Harold E. Neely, his opponent who is being backed by Gov. Cecil H. Underwood and National Committeeman Walter S. Hallanan, has not yet accepted an invitation to be present.